A Boy and His Spider

Summary: A young man makes an unusual companion in his quest to see his world finally show some semblance of justice again.

The Lost Tribute

The fence had been broken and some of the lizards had gotten out. Colin
cursed under his breath as he surveyed the damage. Already, the field
hands were wrangling the other lizards and pulling them into the
neighboring field. The fence was really more of a low rock wall,
carefully shaped to slope inward in order to discourage the large
reptiles that served as the meat staple of Avernum from climbing out.
It was an engineering trick that he’d learned a few years ago, when his
mother sent him away to learn more than their farming community could
teach him. Right now it was failing at its purpose with the gaping hole
in it. A trail led from the damaged section and off to the west. “What’re you gonna do?” his younger brother asked.
Gabriel was the more serious of his siblings, his mind filled with all
the expenses and earnings of the farm. Colin could only imagine what
kind of headache was developing behind his brother’s eyes. “I guess I’m gonna have to go look for ‘em,” he grumbled, “Can we afford the loss?”
“Yeah, but...” Gabriel walked over to the fence and looked over the
damage, “Somebody’s going to need to bring this up to the guard.” “You noticed the tracks, too, huh?”
They recognized the lizard tracks, but there were a lot more than just
the footprints left by three large reptiles. Also, the wall had
clearly been broken with some kind of high-impact magic. There was a
scorch mark on the ground and small stones and mortar strewn about the
area. Colin instantly regretted how much mushroom ale he’d drank the
night before, it was the only explanation for how he could have
disregarded such a noise. “Somebody stole our lizards,” Gabriel sighed, “What do you think? Goblins? Bandits?”
“I don’t know,” Colin replied as he looked over the marks on the
ground, “Gobbos and bandits usually wear boots and shoes. These look
almost like the lizards’ tracks, but the Slithzerikai don’t steal food
this way, and they’re MUCH bigger… On top of the whole… Not raiding
farms, especially this far from their lands.” “And the sliths don’t let their kids leave the tribe to go harassing towns. So… What did this?” Colin shrugged and started heading back for the farm. He was going to need some equipment in order to begin his work. "A mystery to solve, I guess. What burns me up is that these were our tribute lizards.”
“So, are you really gonna go looking for them?” Gabriel asked as they
neared the barn, “Knowing something has them… Something that did…
That… To the wall?” Colin nodded and unlatched the barn door.
Inside were a couple of the thin, sad-looking cattle that every farm
seemed to have in the caverns. They gave bitter, watery milk, but the
cattle’s diet of magic lichen and fungus made the fluid a wonder against
rickets.There were also Colin’s tools of the trade, his long
knives, gauntlets and boiled leather vest. He used them to slaughter
the giant lizards on the farm, and unlike most lizard farmers, he had a
knack for it that kept him from getting horribly maimed every time he
did it. That wasn’t to say that he was always skilled with the
work. Rolling up his sleeves revealed a wicked scar running up his
right arm, flanked by other tiny claw marks. His left arm had similar
claw marks, but no major scars like the right. It had been years since
he’d last been scratched by one of the lizards. The gauntlets and heavy
boots helped, but it was the skills he’d learned when he was sent away
to study that had really improved his time as the resident Lizard
Butcher of Mertis. He’d been taught how to properly thrust a blade,
where to aim at the animal’s throat to spill its blood faster.
“Mom’s not gonna like this,” Gabriel muttered as Colin pulled the vest
over his head and donned his knife belt, “She’d say we should just tell
the guard.” “The Guard will do what they always do. Captain Jarl
will take the information down, post a note on the bounty board and
they’ll all cower inside the walls, hoping some wanderer will take up
the task for them. And we’ll have to pay the bounty anyway! No. No
more. I’m taking care of this myself because I can. Have Milner fix
the fence, he’s been looking for a project anyway…” He had other
reasons, but they all boiled down to the same thing: He was angry. He
was angry with knowing that his once-promising underground nation was
now just shoveling off its food and riches to fill the horde of the
great dragon, Melanchion. Granted, he knew that the dragon had done
much to build stability in the underground, but Avernum had been the
nation that fought and bled for it. Mertis was one of the few
regions able to withstand the blight that had consumed so much of the
magical fungus crop that served as the primary staple of Avernum for
generations. Part of it was diversity, the grounds were “fertile,” and
allowed the farmers to grow many kinds of mushrooms, from the common
Whites and Puffballs to the unusual Spotted Redcaps and even the rare
Violet Coral Mushrooms. To help survive the plague, the farmers turned
to more lizard ranching and cave tree cultivation. The cave trees were
strange forms of fungi, but they weren’t affected by the plague, and
they deposited sour, stringy fruit that helped stave off hunger. With
the help of some local Nephilim tribes, they were even able to set up
fishing ponds for slimy, eyeless fish (to either eat or feed to the
lizards). All in all, Mertis had helped save Avernum as surely as any
army or adventuring band. Yet this led to another thing that
bothered Colin. His community had to contribute the most to the
tribute. Not Silvar or Almaria, which grew fat off their trade revenue
with the other underground nations of the Slith or Nephilim tribes, the
Vahnatai embassy of Tenevra, or even Melanchion’s Realm itself. No,
they were weak when the tribute had to be made in the first years, so
the burden fell upon Mertis, the only town that still had food.
Even now, years later, Mertis provided the bulk of the tribute.
Melanchion’s Realm was built on the old lands of the Cave Giants, and
after years of misuse by the forebears, the lands were barren and
destitute. Only the most hostile creatures ventured into those lands,
many of which were cunning and intelligent, and weren’t shy to pledge
fealty to the wyrm, and almost all of them were incredibly inedible. As
it stood, Mertis had to provide food to the nation, but so long as it
was tribute, they couldn’t be paid for it. The Castle was trying to
find a way to reimburse the farmers, largely due to the complaints of
the Meanders, mostly Colin’s mother, but Council politics continued to
slow the process of change. Losing three of the lizards they’d set
aside for tribute tipped Colin over the edge. He had to get some
killing done. He had to find who took his livestock and make them pay,
personally. His skills were good enough for slaughtering the wickedly
clawed and sharp-toothed animals, they should be fine dealing with
whoever stole them.He just needed to find them, first. With Gabriel
shouting to his back about how he was going to take his things if he
wound up dead, Colin stormed off to the west, following the trail of the
rustlers who were making his life even more miserable.

Laycra Macrae:
I love this book! Throughout the whole novel I have been captivated by the plot and kept wanting to read more! I have literally stopped reading just because I don’t want to get to the last chapter. I definitely recommend reading this book!

NabG:
Truly an amazing work of art, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mythology. I was up all night reading it, so my under eye bags are gorgeous, but it was worth it.This books deserve so much more recognition, I’m certain that one day they will become a movie.Great job!!!

Brittani Nicole Case:
Your summary of the story is what got me to read it. You have a way with words and with humor. I didn't really see the strong-willed version of Cordelia. When I think of a strong-willed female character the very first one to pop in my head is Buffy Sommers (There is no stronger-willed female than...

dshanie76:
it was awesome but u left me in suspense. so unfair. It had minor grammatical error but the plot was great. the personality of the characters where very descriptive that allowed me to create a picture for every scenario easily. you have the potential to be a wonderful writer. But i think you shou...

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